After Decades of Court Proceedings

In a recent decision, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Rhode Island District Court's Decision in DeCiantis v. Wall.  DeCiantis was convicted of the murder of Dennis Roche from back in the early 1980's.  The informant that the State used, William Ferle, was part of the criminal element of the day.  He and his family were placed in protective custody.  The State while disclosing some of Ferle's criminal history to DeCiantis, seems to have failed to provide the extensive criminal activity Mr. Ferle was involved in.  Additionally, there seems to be no evidence that the state exposed that Ferle was being compensated to the tune of $24,000 including the State's payment of his home mortgage.  After more that 2 decades of court proceedings that has spanned over 4 decades, the First Circuit has agreed with the lower courts.  Although DeCiantis argued that “[u]nder Rhode Island law, the deliberate nondisclosure of evidence favorable to a defendant furnishes 'grounds for a new trial regardless of the degree of harm to the defendant.'”  State v. Chalk, 816 A.2d 413, 419 (R.I. 2002), all the Courts that have reviewed this argument have reached similar conclusion.  DeCiantis habeas corpus appeal has been denied.  Full opinion can be seen at: DeCiantis v. Wall.